bonestonne wrote:also, mad props to aristide1...Mobile 1 synthetic oil is the best stuff on the market because even after 30k miles (like in my dads 1996 minivan) its still doing the same job it was the day it was put in. natural oil begins to break down in the heat much faster than the synthetic crap. 10W30 all the way...unless you're in a racecar (my friend puts 15W50 in his).
Mad props? I use Mobil 1 to cut friction and improve full economy. The fact that it lasts so long is less of a factor. A normal oil filter simply can't last that long. I will probably switch to just a filter change every other change, I dump it all now.
I use 15-50 in the summer, I think the oil's viscosity is a tad low at running temperatures. Last winter I used Castol Synthetic 5-50 because Mobil 1's 5-30 or such stays awful thin, and we get warm spells in the winter. Castrol is more suited for that, but those idiots refuse to sell 5-50 in a 5 quart container.
kaange wrote:Horses for courses. You drive a 3200 lb car while mine is considerably lighter.
If I can brake hard enough to pulse the ABS and turn hard enough to cause tyre squeal, I don't consider too much of my safety margin has been compromised during EOC.
It's more than that. I drove a '69 Chevelle 396 with manual steering. Yes, they actually made it that way, and despite F60-15s in the front and this massive engine it steered easily at speed. Parallel parking was another story, but my point is even my current car with manual steering would be easier than that Chevelle. As it is now I tried EOC and it's harder at speed than the Chevelle, but OK for small course corrections. I don't know any car sold in the States has manual steering anymore, and frankly for the lighter cars I don't see why. But as overweight Americans I don't see many cars being sold under 2500 pounds anymore either. Even the Honda Fix.
Yes I did EOC. Out of 10 one-way trips to work and back in a week, about 12 miles each, I can coast a little over 2 miles per day, or about a 1 way trips worth a week. But that won't save me an average of a trip's worth of gas, because all my coasting is downhill or flat, and a trip to work involves going uphill as well. I can't say what it will save me because I never liked looking at my in town mileage.
Higher octane fuel has the potential of creating more horsepower in an engine that is designed to take advantage of it, but from what I recall more refining meant less fuel created to begin with, no?
Propane is the winner here. Morgan continued to make their sports car for years without pollution controls by switching to propane, and propane's octane rating is very high from what I recall.
quikkie wrote:Oh and in the UK we get a choice of 95 (regular) or 97 (premium) - none of that anaemic stuff you Americans can get .
Is your octane rating based on R+M/2? The average of the two available ratings? If not the comparison is not valid.